Will Jacks hopes he is in the reckoning for a World Cup spot as he pursues his dream of being an all-format regular for England despite an “absolute disaster” of a schedule.
An explosive batter whose off-spin is ever-improving, Jacks is a hot commodity on the franchise circuit but amid an ongoing arm-wrestle between countries and clubs, the 24-year-old’s focus is on England.
He is likely to feature at some point in white-ball series against New Zealand and Ireland in the coming weeks before England travel to India in October to defend their status as 50-over champions.
Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone seem to be the favoured spin-bowling all-rounders but Jacks was in the top five run-scorers in the Vitality Blast and has had a couple of belligerent cameos in The Hundred.
He told the PA news agency: “I’d like to think my name will be mentioned in conversations for the World Cup. You’ve got to perform, work hard and it’s hard to get in. You’ve really got to earn it.
“Overall, I had a pretty decent season in the Blast and I just want to continue in The Hundred to give myself the best opportunity to play for England.”
If Jacks is overlooked, he could feature in December’s tour to the Caribbean, where England are due to face West Indies in a white-ball series that starts two weeks after the World Cup final.
The three ODIs followed by five T20s is being widely touted as a changing of the guard for England in limited-overs internationals, with a number of their first-team players in their early-to-mid-30s.
Jacks said: “Even after the World Cup there’s some more 50-over cricket right after that.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for people afterwards. You never know, after the World Cup there could be changes in the squad, etc. Hopefully it’s going to be a busy winter but we’ll see.”
Jacks, who is going at a strike-rate of 168.33 for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, is not on any type of England central contract, having made his international debut in all three formats in the last year.
It was a chaotic winter, capped by him missing out on the XI for a Test against New Zealand and a week later making his ODI bow in Bangladesh, but despite grumbles about cricket’s increasingly bloated timetable, Jacks has not once thought about putting franchise commitments at the top of his agenda.
Former England batter Alex Hales said last week after announcing his international retirement that he would “chuck my eggs into the T20 basket” if he were starting out and abandon any Test aims.
But Jacks said: “It’s never entered my mind. I’m very happy playing red-ball cricket – I enjoy it, it’s a tough challenge but it’s incredibly rewarding so it’s something that I’ll definitely continue with.
“(Being a three-format cricketer) is obviously very tough to do. The schedule these days all over the world for 12 months of the year is an absolute disaster, to be honest. You’ve got to be flexible.
“It’s a tough thing if you don’t see many people do it, I’m guessing over the years that fewer and fewer people will do it. It depends on what stage of your career you’re at and what your ambitions are.
“But if you have ambitions to play Test cricket and all three formats for England, which is what I want to do, then it’s about sticking with it.”
Hales stepping away from England leaves a vacancy at the top of the order, which Jacks will be in contention to fill, as will Surrey and Invincibles opening partner Jason Roy.
The pair have yet to hit top gear in The Hundred, where the Invincibles will attempt to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat to Birmingham Phoenix against local rivals London Spirit on Tuesday.
Jacks added: “We haven’t quite fired in this tournament but there’s a lot more time for us to fire before the knockout stages when it counts.”
Archer back in IPL auction despite being left off the shortlist
Jofra Archer will be in the IPL auction after all, having been left off the shortlist initially.
The fast bowler was an entry on the longlist but did not appear among the names after it had been whittled down to 574 last week.
There had been no word from Archer as to why he had pulled out of the auction and re-entered, although the prospect of playing in the IPL in future could have been key.
According to new rules in the competition, a player will be ineligible to play in the IPL for two years if they do not enter the auction.
Archer has struggled with injury since 2020 and has carefully worked his way back from an elbow problem he suffered last year. Having been part of England's white-ball set-up since May, he has a desire to get back into Test cricket.
The 29-year-old has not played the longest form of the game in nearly four years and, if picked for the IPL, could find it harder to get back into it.
With the early rounds of the County Championship season clashing with the IPL, it could harm Archer's ability to prove his fitness and reduce his chances of playing in a home Test in 2025. Additionally, he could also find it difficult to force his way in for the Ashes in Australia next winter.
Magnificent Bumrah humbles Australia after India batting collapse
India wrestled control back from Australia to leave them 67-7 at the close of play, despite having been bowled out for just 150 earlier on a remarkable first day in Perth.
The tourists chose to bat first, having made six changes from their Test defeat to New Zealand earlier this month, but things did not go well for them as they were reduced to 32-3 and 73-6.
Virat Kohli struggled again and went for just five after being caught by Usman Khawaja. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and number three Devdutt Padikkal were both playing in Australia for the first time and were dismissed for ducks.
Rishabh Pant (37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) dragged India to a level of respectability before their bowlers tore through the Australian batting lineup.
Jasprit Bumrah (4-17) was India's saviour, producing a spell to leave the hosts 19-3. Nathan McSweeney (10) went on lbw after a review, Khawaja (8) was caught in the slips and Steve Smith was out on his first ball after another lbw.
Both Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh went for a combined total of 17 runs, with Marnus Labuschagne next to go for two off 52 balls. Pat Cummins was the final wicket of the day, meaning Australia finished on 67-7 with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc at the crease.
Data debrief: Australia and India go wicket crazy
It was undoubtedly a day for the bowlers on the first day in Perth, with 17 wickets being the most to have fallen on the opening day of a Test in Australia since 1952.
While all 10 of Australia's wickets were caught, India managed four dismissals through either bowling their opponent or lbw.
Following his unplayable performance in Perth, Bumrah now has 177 Test wickets for his country and can count himself unlucky not to have had more.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
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